10 Best Content Marketing Books for Small Businesses in 2013

Marketing has gotten complex. But who says you have to be implementing every single marketing technique or social media platform? Granted, there are many experts extolling the virtues of this strategy or that platform, but no one is telling you to use them all.   In 2014 consider SIMPLIFYING your marketing.

In fact, if you were to just choose ONE major marketing strategy, you would have more than enough tactics to keep you busy for years. Let’s take content marketing as an example.  And what better place to learn about content marketing than a good reading list.

Here are the Small Business Trends Editorial Team picks for best content marketing books published originally or in a new edition during 2013:

1. Epic Content Marketing

by Joe Pulizzi (@JoePulizzi) (Sep 3, 2013)

It’s not enough to simply throw content out onto the Internet and expect that customers will see it and connect to it. You need more than that.

This book is a great resource for marketing managers and small business owners who would like to use content marketing as a way to gain visibility for your business. You will find everything you need to get started here. (Read our review.)

You will learn to define your niche, revise your mission statement, and differentiate content types and content assets. You will also learn how to use social media to market your content and be introduced to some other content promotion techniques as well. And you will learn how to measure the impact of your content marketing initiatives to determine whether they have been successful.

2. The New Rules of Marketing & PR

by David Meerman Scott (@dmscott) (Jul 1, 2013)

This is a classic! It is now in its 4th edition.

It contains updates on all of the basic social media channels as well as new case studies and examples.

You’ll learn the best and most successful practices in social media, blogging, video and audio as well as the latest content marketing strategies.

This is a comprehensive content marketing guide for small business owners.  Every marketing department/person in a small business should have this on the shelf.

3. Content Marketing: Insider’s Secret to Online Sales & Lead Generation

by Rick Ramos (@ricktramos) (Jul 10, 2013)

If you’ve chosen content marketing as a strategy for getting the word out about your business, but are unsure of exactly what is involved, this is a great place to start.

Ramos, an online marketer himself, shares everything you need to know to develop a comprehensive content marketing strategy for your business.

Some of the topics include finding your online voice, choosing your channels, developing content calendars and providing insider tips and tricks for creating killer content.

4. 500 Social Media Marketing Tips 

by Andrew Macarthy (@andrewmacarthy) (Feb 7, 2013)

If you’d rather be in the trenches DOING social media rather than just thinking or reading about it, this might be the book for you.

It contains 500 practical tips that you can put to use in minutes. You’ll get strategies for LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram, Vine and a few more.

Included are also templates and a general strategy for social media success. You’ll find this truly readable book full of ideas that will get you ready to reap the benefits of social media for your business.

5. The Big Book of Content Marketing

by Andreas Ramos (@andreas_ramos99) (May 26, 2013)

Done right, content marketing can help you both build your brand and attract your ideal customers.

This book will help you get that process started. Or if you’ve already started and want to improve your strategy, the Big Book of Content Marketing will help you do that too. In its pages you’ll learn to determine how content marketing fits into your overall strategy, use influencer marketing to distribute your content, and track the success of your strategy.

6. Content to Commerce

by Avi Savar (@avisavar) (May 20, 2013)

If you have already implemented a content marketing strategy and are looking for some ideas to help you take your efforts to the next level, this is a good choice.

This book gives you more of a 30,000 foot view of content marketing and contains essays from successful strategists and marketers who have used these strategies to propel big brands to success.

7. Youtility: Why Smart Marketing Is about Help Not Hype

by Jay Baer (@jaybaer) (Jun 27, 2013)

You already know that selling to existing customers is the best and highest use of your marketing dollars and efforts.

This book shows you how to transform your marketing content from being “hype” focused to being “help” focused. Baer asks the pivotal question for today’s content-focused marketing strategists.

“What if instead of trying to be amazing, you tried to be useful?”This book will show you how to transform your marketing content from being salesy to being helpful and in-turn generating more profitable customers.

8. How to Write Articles That Convert Like Crazy 

by Ian Hollander (Jan 24, 2013)

The subtitle to this book is:  ”The Secret To Turning Your Ideas into Income …. & Your Content into CASH!”

From that subtitle, you might think this was going to be a totally cheesy Kindle book â€" but you’d be wrong.

Yes, it’s self-published and not as polished as some of the other books on this list.  But it’s also only $2.99, so you won’t be risking much.

Read this short and easy-to-scan book to harvest the straight-forward ideas.  For a small business owner or entrepreneur on a budget, who writes a blog or submits guest articles, this book has practical advice you can put to work immediately.

9. The Invisible Sale

by Tom Martin (Oct 4, 2013)

Content marketing isn’t just for writers. It’s a good strategy for people who hate cold calling.

So many small business owners run away from selling. But you can’t afford to do that.

This 200+ page book contains four sections that overlay a common selling cycle on top of powerful content marketing strategies that will help you reach out to customers and generate leads for your business without cold calling.

10. Subliminally Exposed

by Steven Dayan MD (Jun 4, 2013)

Subliminally Exposed isn’t a marketing book per se, but no marketer should ignore it. Author Steven Dayan, MD reveals the how and why behind your actions and empowers you to decode and translate others’ subconscious behaviors.

No, this isn’t likely to be a book on the radar of your typical marketing professional. But it’s loaded with interesting facts that will help you better understand social dynamics of all kinds. It could also help you attract your ideal customer, too.

Think of content not just as words, but as images, too.  If you want to know how to push the right buttons to engage the interest of customers, this is the book.

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While some of these content marketing books may not be best sellers, they each offer something of value for those intent on becoming expert content marketers.

We limited this list to books new (or newly updated) in 2013.  If you’re looking for older content marketing books, take a look at a previous list of content marketing books.